ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, June 4, 1996 TAG: 9606040056
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
NOTE: Lede
THE TEEN ADMITTED he was distributing Ritalin at a party where another teen died from snorting it. The man was sentenced to 90 hours of community service.
A Roanoke teen-ager admitted Monday to distributing Ritalin at a party where a 19-year-old took a fatal snort of the prescription drug, a popular stimulant in some high school crowds.
John Molumphy, a substitute judge in Roanoke Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, took the case under advisement and ordered the 18-year-old to perform 90 hours of community service. That means the charge will be dismissed if he stays out of trouble for a year.
Because the case was handled in juvenile court, the defendant is not being named.
The youth, who was 17 at the time, was charged with distributing Ritalin at a party in South Roanoke the morning of April 14, 1995.
After snorting several ground-up Ritalin pills at the party, Lucas Lawson suffered a heart attack and died 18 hours later.
Although witnesses said the youth was distributing Ritalin at the party, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Alice Ekirch said there was no conclusive evidence that he provided the fatal dose.
If there had been, she said, authorities might have considered a more serious charge, such as manslaughter.
Distributing Ritalin - a drug that is grouped along with cocaine and PCP as having a high potential for abuse - carries a sentence of five to 40 years in prison for adults.
Authorities say the drug, which is prescribed for people with attention deficit disorder and for hyperactive children, has become popular in recent years among high school students looking for ways to get high.
Because the tablets are widely prescribed to school-age children, the drug has become easily accessible in the Roanoke Valley's schools.
Last month, Roanoke County police charged two teen-agers with distributing Ritalin, and four others with possessing the drug, at William Byrd Middle School.
Police found six pills, but they believe there were at least 30 tablets involved. Students were not selling the drug, police said, but sharing it with friends.
Roanoke police charged two Patrick Henry High School students with Ritalin possession last year. They have made one such arrest so far this school year.
Lawson, who witnesses said had several beers at the South Roanoke party, collapsed after snorting the powdered drug from a stove top.
By the time friends drove him to Roanoke Memorial Hospital, he was in cardiac arrest. Doctors were able to resuscitate Lawson and put him on life support, but he died 18 hours later. An autopsy determined that his death was caused by a sudden dose of Ritalin, according to Dr. William Massello, assistant deputy chief medical examiner.
Although many youths take Ritalin with no ill effects, Massello cited two reasons why the drug may have been lethal for Lawson: he drank alcohol shortly before taking it, and he snorted it instead of swallowing it, which allowed it to reach his bloodstream quicker.
Staff writer Diane Struzzi contributed to this story.
LENGTH: Medium: 64 linesby CNB